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Souped-up stem cells rescue damaged limbs

ALREADY prized as engines of repair, stem cells have now been engineered to contain a gene that enhances their healing properties by summoning extra blood vessels to newly formed tissue. Using the same technique, it should be possible to add other genes to stem cells to make them more efficient at different tasks.

Stem cells have the potential to repair most tissues in the body. However, new tissue needs new blood vessels to feed it, and stem cells don’t always produce enough of the proteins that encourage blood vessels to grow. So Daniel Anderson at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology …